1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for automatically packing cut bean curd.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fine-grained bean curd (called KINUKOSHI TOFU in Japan) is generally manufactured in the following way. Soybeans which have been soaked in water and have grown sodden are crushed and boiled and then soybean milk is obtained by separating bean curd refuse. Soybean milk thus obtained is mixed with a coagulating agent and is coagulated into fine-grained bean curd. Bean curd is classified into "filled bean curd" and "cut bean curd" according to the method of manufacturing the bean curd. In the case of filled bean curd, soybean milk is cooled, is mixed with a coagulating agent, and is poured into a pack of a size and a shape corresponding to one piece of bean curd. Each pack is sealed hermetically and is heated to such an extent that the soybean milk therein coagulates. In manufacturing the filled bean curd in the above way, the air which intermingles with soybean milk when soybean milk is put in a pack and is sealed hermetically releases air bubbles, when heating the soybean milk or with the lapse of time after filling. Such air bubbles float on the surface of soybean milk in the pack, and if soybean milk is coagulated in this state, bubbles are formed at the surface of the bean curd. Presence of such bubbles will lower the commodity value of such bean curd.
As compared with filled bean curd, in the case of cut bean curd, soybean milk is coagulated in a coagulating box of the size corresponding to at least several pieces of bean curd and is then cut into several pieces of bean curd of the desired size. In manufacturing cut bean curd, when soybean milk is poured into a coagulating box air bubbles mingle with soybean milk but most of them get out of the soybean milk before the soybean milk coagulates and therefore bubbles are hardly formed at the surface of the bean curd.
Coarse-grained bean curd (called MOMEN TOFU in Japan) is manufactured in the following way, namely, coagulated soybean milk is broken into many small blocks and such broken bean curd blocks are filled in a shaping box for pressing, dehydrating and shaping. The shaping box is emptied into a water tank and bean curd in the water tank is cut manually into pieces of fixed size or bean curd in the shaping box is cut into pieces of predetermined size and the shaping box is emptied into the water tank. Bean curd pieces of desired size in the water tank are dipped up piece, by piece by hand, and one piece is put in each container. Since bean curd is soft and easy to break, utmost care is required for cutting and packing.
Since the so-called cut bean curd (cut to predetermined size after coagulation) is soft and very easy to break, when cut bean curd manufactured in the specified shape is put piece by piece in a pack, such packing cannot be done in air. It has therefore been a usual practice in packing cut bean curd to soak cut bean curd in water, carefully dip up piece by piece out of the water by hand and put one piece each in a pack held by the other hand. Packs, each containing one piece of bean curd, are supplied to an automatic packing machine through a conveying means, such as a conveyor, or manually for wrapping up in a thin film, such as polyethylene film, and then shipped. Packing of bean curd is an indispensable operation for a bean curd manufacturer who manufactures bean curd in large quantities for wholesaling to supermarkets and retailers. However, since cut bean curd is soft and very easy to break as mentioned before, it is impossible to wrap up or pack bean curd automatically or mechanically. For this reason, bean curd is dipped up carefully out of the water in which it has been soaked and then is packed. This involves poor efficiency and requires many hands in a manufacturing process including cutting to fixed size and packing. Moreover, since bean curd is soaked in ambient water or in lukewarm water, sundry germs easily stick to bean curd and there is a fear that such sundry germs propagate after seal-packing.